Observations of the Fox

I just thought I'd share this cool site that encodes those new QR Code squares that we are starting to see all over the place. Here's the Vulpinoid Studios website address as QR code.

My internet situation still hasn't improved much...still living the life of a Wi-Fi nomad. As a result of that, I'll still be writing the series of Game Mechanisms of the Week, but they'll probably be uploaded sporadically in bursts...a few weeks at a time after they've been written (or even a couple of weeks in advance if I get the chance). Hopefully this won't put you off from reading them and offering some kind of feedback. I've still got the spam filter activated on the blog, so if you are making comments and you don't see them for a few days (or even weeks), don't send them through multiple times...it probably just means I haven't had the chance to authorise them yet. I'd ike to think the internet issue will be resolved soon, but it's really not a high priority at the moment....finishing up the writing of my comic and a few other personal projects are actually getting completed without the distraction of the web. Thanks for the persevera...

The version of L5R that I’m most familiar with is 2 nd Edition. I’ve played a bit of 3 rd Edition, so I know that a lot of the fundamentals are very similar….as for other versions I’m not as sure. The basic system for the core mechanism is fairly similar to the structure I described for the percentile system, but there are enough differences to make it worthwhile examining…especially the fact that it allows players to take a bit more control for themselves when the GM is using the system correctly. It should also be noted that a GM can use the system incorrectly, and when they do this it is barely any different to the basic percentile system. I’ll describe this later. The basic system follows 4 steps: 1. Scene is set for the action. Target number is determined, along with a pool of dice to roll based on the attribute and skill to be used in the task. 2. You may choose to raise the difficulty to gain an added effect from the action. 3. Dice are rolled, t...

I’m going to start this analysis with one of the old chestnuts of roleplaying, the percentile skill system. This is found in earlier versions of D&D, as well as the range of Palladium roleplaying games, Call of Cthulhu, and plenty of the Old-School Renaissance games. It’s a simple game mechanism following three basic steps. 1. You have a target number; the target number is typically based on your character’s skill level plus or minus a difficulty factor. The reason for the difficulty factor is typically described in the fiction. 2. You roll a percentile die and compare it to the target number. 3. One of two results occurs a. You beat the target number and you either gain an advantage or avoid a penalty. b. You fail to beat the target number and you either suffer a penalty or don’t gain the advantage. This mechanism can be applied in a few ways in a game. In many “railroaded” linear games, the percentile roll is simply used to determine whether advantages are ...

Converging Story – A story with a fixed end point. The GM has a specific idea of where they would like the story to go, and even though the path may be twisted and erratic, the story will end up there regardless of the actions undertaken along the way. Real Play Example: A story has a tyrannical despot as the core antagonist, he is gradually gaining power and there is no way out of the land except to face him. Regardless of what the characters do the despot will gain power and eventually he will have to be confronted (either on his terms or the character’s terms). Diverging Story – A story with a fixed starting point. The GM specifically sets the opening scene to put events into motion. The events that occur later within the story are commonly derived from this particular opening moment, or from a fixed series of events that lead to that moment. Real Play Example: A story begins with the characters stranded somewhere, they don’t know why, they don’t know how. Events leading up to...

Spider's Dance Here's a little something I've been working on as a solo game project for the Solo Game Design Challenge. I'm trying to leave it pretty self explanatory. Tell me what you think...

I had fun doing my “Game Mechanism of the Week” series in 2009, so I’ve decided that I’ll do it again. It’s not that I’ve instantly thought of 52 more mechanisms to look at, but rather that I could do the series better. Maybe do things in a more focused manner; then combine what I’ve developed in Vector Theory in the hope that both concepts will be stronger for it. Where possible I’ll be trying to pull in some new game mechanisms, but I’ll be drawing on some of the previous mechanisms for a more detailed analysis. It’s the kind of things that I was hoping to do the first time around, but this time I have a better perspective, grounding in my own game design theories, and hopefully a better way to explain things. The concept of the “Game Mechanism of the Week” is important to me for a few reasons. It’s my way of understanding the elements that make up games, and the way those elements combine into unique play experiences. Finally, the way I see it, the analysis of game mechanisms ta...

New Year...new ideas. No, actually its going to be year of revisiting old ideas. Getting them finished...Getting them right. I've been plugging away at my Quincunx Graphic Novel over the past few weeks. The first 28 page issue (of 6) is getting its final touches, and I have about 75% of the CGI renderings, photographs and ink paintings to complete the remaining issues. The last few days have been all about compiling the stuff I've got rather than fussing over details and avoiding the task of actually compiling the end product. Hopefully that labour of love will be done soon. This year I've also committed to releasing a few new variants/expansions for my Hold Em Scene Generator , a product released late last year on RPGNow. It's already started selling and might actually turn out to be a decent earner if the current numbers keep up. One release per month would be nice easy target (as long as things don't get too chaotic elsewhere in my life). I also have to get the ...